Bread cubing machine



Aug. 29, 1950 c. H. PETSKEYES 2,520,853

BREAD CUBING MACHINE Filed Sept. 5, 1946 4Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR CHARLES H. PETS/(755 k0 M M ATTO R N EYJ 29, 1950 c. H. PETSKEYES BREAD CUBING MACHINE '4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 5, 1946 INVENTOR. a N BYz Fm. a

1950 c. PETSKEYES 2,520,853

BREAD CUBING MACHINE Filed Sept. 5, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 M if INVENTOR.

g- 29, 1950 c. H. PETSKEYES 2,520,853

' BREAD CUBING MACHINE I Patented Aug. 29, 1950 BREAD CUBING MACHINE Charles H. Petskeyes, Davenport, Iowa, assignor to A. G. Bush and 0. F. Rohwedder, both of Davenport, Iowa Application September 5, 1946, Serial'No. 694,987

8 Claims. 1

My invention relates to improvements in machines in which a plurality of cutting blades are used to cut slices of bread and other products into small cubes.

The objects of my invention are to provide an improved arrangement of blades and blade frames, improved means for driving the blade frames, improved means for feeding the bread to the cutting blades and for discharging the cubes, and. an improved form of housing and mounting for the various moving parts.

I attain these objects by the means shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the assembled machine taken from the front and side;

Figure 2 is an elevation showing the base in section and the relative position of the upper frame, motor drive shaft and belt pulleys;

Figure 3 is a detail rear view of the blade assemblies omitting the rear cover and discharge chute;

Figure 4 is a partial front elevation showing the arrangement of the motor and driving mechamsm;

Figure 5 is a detail edge view showing the ar- ,4

A frame 2 is mounted upon the top of the base inclined 'rearwardl at the top and secured to the base by bolts or rivets.

The front cover 3 and the rear cover 4 are detachably secured to the frame 2. An additional front cover 24 may be detachably secured to the cover 3 to more completely guard the blades and to facilitate access to the blades when removed.

The blade frames are rectangular and each frame comprises two heads and two side bars uniting the heads.

The blades are secured in suitable slots in bosses or lugs formed upon the heads of the blade frames by pins united to the blades and one end of each blade is provided with a rod 6| the body of which is round and threaded to receive a nut 61! which bears against a helical spring 59 interposed between the nut and the frame head.

The frame head 4!! is provided with an inwardly extending flange 4B1 and the inner end parts i of the rod 61' has a square head ELI formed thereon to bear against the flange 48.! and keep the blade from turning or twisting, the other end of the blade being secured against twisting by being engaged in a longitudinal slot formed in the corresponding boss or lug in the opposite head of the frame.

The square head 6 I .l of the rod is slotted longitudinally to receive one end of the blade 22 and also provided with a diagonal slot in which the pin 62 may rest, the pin 52 being rigidly united to the end of the blade 22.

One end of each blade is secured in a similar manner and the tension on the blades may be adjusted and. the blades tightened to any desired degree by screwing down the nut upon the rod 61. The other end of each blade may be secured by a pin united to the blade and engaged in suitable slots formed in opposite heads of the blade frames.

The blade frames are arranged in two airs and extend obliquely preferably at an angle of about 45 from the vertical.

The blade frames are slidably mounted upon supporting rods or bars 55, 55, 5? and 58. These rods are arranged in pairs each pair being secured at right angles to the other pair. The ends of the supporting rods are secured in suitable hubs or bosses 51.! cast integral with the frame and may extend through the frame. The outer ends of the rods may be reduced in section and covered with bushings of rubber or other suitable material 51.2 so that the rods themselves do not come in contact with the bosses nor with the frame.

The rubber bushings 51.3 are mounted upon the outer end of the rods 55, 56, 57 and 53 with steel washers 51.4 bearing against them and secured in place, by nuts. 51.5 which are threaded upon the ends of. the rods 51 etc. in the usual way.

For clearness of illustration, some of the bosses are omitted in Figure '3. One of the bosses with the rubber bushings, washers, etc. is shown in enlarged half-sectional detail in Figure 8.

This arrangement of resilient washers and bushings aids greatly in preventing or overcoming vibration of the frame and body of the machine and in avoiding resultant wear, as well as silencing the operation.

In order to further reduce vibration, the bellcrank levers are made of the same size and weight and carefull balanced. Likewise the connecting rods are similarly balanced. All four of the blade frames are also made of identical size and weight and carefully balanced.

The two frames of each pair are arranged to travel reciprocatingly in opposite directions. Each frame carries a plurality of cutting blades and all of the blades of a given pair of frames are arranged to lie and travel with their cutting edges in a single plane. The frames and blades of each pair travel at a right angle to the travel of the frames and blades of the other-pair, but in parallel planes preferably closely spaced so that the blades of the rear pair of frames will contact the bread being cubed before the bread has entirely left the blades of the front pair of frames.

In order to drive the blade-frames, I mount a motor 30 upon a suitable support united to the base, and a drive pulley 33 is mounted upon the motor shaft and may be either single or multiple In Figure 2 I have shown double pulleys 33 to drive V-shaped belts 3| which pass over and around the combined pulley and flywheel 3Z- mounted upon the shaft 34 secured in suitable bosses formed integral with the frame 2.

Cams 35 and 36 are rigidly mounted upon the shaft 34 and connecting rods 31 and 38 have their heads pivotally mounted upon the cams.

The opposite end of the connecting rod 31 is pivotally united to one arm of a bellcrank lever a mounted upon a pivot 5| suitably secured in the frame 2.

The bellcrank lever 50 has the outer end of one arm pivotally united to a link the opposite end of whichis pivoted by a pivot 4 H to the head 4| of one of the frames and the outer end of the other arm of the bellcrank lever 59 is pivotally united to a link the opposite end of which is secured by a pivot 45.! to the head 45 of one of the frames of the other pair.

Thus as the cam revolves, the connecting rod 3'? is driven toward or away from the shaft 34 and carries with it one arm of the 'bellcrank lever 50 which rocks upon the pivot 5 I. As the bellcrank lever rocks in one direction, it will drive the head 45 and the frame united thereto obliquely downwardly and the head 41 and the frame united thereto obliquely upwardly and at right angles to the first frame, and as the bellcrank lever rocks in the other direction, it will move said frames in the opposite directions.

Likewise, as the cam shaft 34 revolves, the cam 36 will move the connecting rod 38 to correspond and the connecting rod, through the pivot 54, will L rock the bellcrank lever 49 upon its pivot 52. The outer end of one arm of the bellcrank lever is pivotally united to one end of a link the other end of which is united to the head 47 by the pivot 41.! and as the bellcrank lever rocks, it will move the head 4! and the frame united thereto to correspond.

At the same time, the outer end of the other arm of the bellcrank lever being pivotally united to one end of a link the other end of which is pivoted by the pivot 39.l to the head 39, the bellcrank lever will cause the head 39 and the frame united thereto to reciprocate as the bellcrank lever rocks upon its pivot 52.

In this way, all of the frames will be driven 2| to the upper end of the lever 8, the lower end of which is secured by a pivot IE to a suitable bracket 9 united to the base.

A link [4 connects the lever 8 to the upper end of a lever II] which is pivotally mounted upon a pivot l2 secured to the bracket 9 united to the base I. .The outer end of the lever in may be provided with a pedal to be actuated by. the foot of the operator.

A compression spring ll carries a rod IL! the lower end of which is pivotally united to the lever Ill and the upper end of which carries an adjusting nut .2 by which the tension of the spring may be adjusted. The lower end of the spring rests upon an extension of the bracket 9.

A discharge chute 6 is secured to the rear cover 4 in position to guide the cubes as they leave the slicing blades and. carry them into any desired receptacle placed thereunder.

In the operation of my apparatus, the sliced loaf of bread l9 may be placed for convenience in one section of the chute 5. The foot lever ii] is then depressed which carries the arm 8 into the position shown in Figure 1 and the bread [8 is inserted in the chute 5 ahead of the slide or pusher 5.l. As the foot is released from the pedal, the action of the spring II will raise the outer end of the lever in and the arm 8 inwardly, thereby carrying the bread 3 forwardly in the chute and into contact with the cutting blades, the motor being thrown into action by any desired form of electrical switch.

When the pusher 5.l has reached the inner end of its travel, the lever I0 is again depressed. and a fresh loaf of sliced bread placed in the chute 5 by the operator.

The cam and the bellcrank lever are self-balancing. The blade frames are all constructed of the same material, size and weight and as they continuously travel in opposite directions, they are self-balancing and this arrangement affords such perfect balance that there is no noticeable vibration, although the machine is operated at high speed. The stopping and starting strains upon the frames are likewise balanced because whenever one frame is starting or stopping, another frame traveling in the opposite direction, is also starting or stopping.

Various modifications may be made in the material, form, size, proportion and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of my invention and I do not limit my claims to the precise forms shown in the drawings.

I claim:

1. In a bread-cubing machine, a base with a motor and motor pulley mounted'therein at an inclination to the horizontal, a main frame mounted upon the base and inclining rearwardly therefrom carrying a drive shaft and drive pulley parallel to the motor shaft and motor pulley, a pair of opposed cams formed integral with the drive shaft, connecting rods having their heads mounted upon the cams respectively and each connecting rod having its free end pivoted respectively to the corresponding one of a, pair of oppositely disposed bellcrank levers pivotally mounted in the main frame, two pairs of spaced supporting bars mounted within the main frame each pair crossing the other pair at right angles, pairs of blade frames slidably mounted upon each pair of supporting rodsrespectivelyand each frame carrying a plurality of cutting blades, the blades of each frame of a given pair being mounted in lateral alternation with the blades of the other frame of said pair and with the cutting edges of all the blades of said pair lying in a single plane.

the blades of one pair being spaced from the blades of the other pair a, distance equal to approximately one-half the thickness of the slices of bread to be cubed, one frame of each pair being linked to one of the bellcrank levers, and the other frames of both pairs being pivotally linked to the other bellcrank lever and all being so arranged that all the frames will travel simultaneously and the two frames of either given pair will at all times travel in opposite directions, and driving means actuated by the motor pulley to actuate the drive shaft.

2. A bread-cubing machine comprising a, base, a main frame mounted upon the base inclining rearwardly and carrying a drive shaft revolvably mounted therein, a, pair of opposed cams united to the drive shaft, connecting rods having their heads mounted upon the cams respectively and their opposite ends pivoted to oppositely disposed bellcrank levers pivotally mounted in the main frame, two pairs of spaced supporting bars mounted within the main frame with each pair crossing the other pair at right angles, separate pairs of blade frames mounted upon each pair of supporting bars respectively and each frame carrying a, plurality of cutting blades, the blades of each frame of given pair being mounted in lateral alternation with the blades of the other frame of said pair and with the cutting edges of all the blades of such pair lying in a single plane, the blades of one pair being spaced from the blades of the other pair a distance equal to approximately one-half the thickness of the slices of bread to be cubed, one frame of each pair being linked to the arms of a bellcrank lever pivotally mounted in the frame and the other frame of each pair being linked to a similarly mounted opposed bellcrank lever, and all being so arranged that the two frames of either pair will travel simultaneously and always in opposite directions,

while the other pair travels simultaneously and at right angles thereto, and means to actuate the drive shaft.

3. In a cutting machine, a base with a motor and motor pulley mounted therein at an inclination to the horizontal, a main frame mounted upon the base and inclining rearwardly therefrom carrying a drive shaft and drive pulley parallel to the motor shaft and motor pulley, a pair of opposed cams formed integral with the drive shaft, connecting rods having their heads mounted upon the cams respectively and their free ends pivoted respectively to oppositely disposed bellcrank levers pivotally mounted in the main frame, two pairs of spaced supporting bars mounted within the main frame each pair crossing the other pair at right angles, pairs of blade frames slidably mounted upon the pairs of supporting bars respectively, each frame carrying a plurality of cutting blades, the blades of each frame of a given pair being mounted in lateral alternation with the blades of the other frame of said pair and with the cutting edges of all the blades of said pair lying in a single plane, one frame of each pair being linked to one of the bellcrank 1evers and the other frame of each pair being linked to the opposed bellcrank lever, and being so arranged that the two frames of a given pair will travel simultaneously and always in the opposite directions, a driving belt carried by the motor pulley to actuate the drive pulley, a feed chute to carry the bread to the cutting blades, and a spring operated pusher to drive the bread along the feed chute.

4. A cutting machine as described in claim 3, and a pedal lever to retract the pusher, the 0pposed connecting rods, bellcrank levers and the frames all being similar to and balanced with each other.

5. A cutting machine as described in claim 3, an inclined feed chute to carry the bread to the cutting blades, and a downwardly inclined discharge chute to carry off the cut product from the blades.

6. A cutting machine as described in claim said driving means comprising a belt carried by the motor pulley to actuate the drive pulley, an angular feed chute mounted in the frame to carry the bread to the cutting blades with its sides secured together at an angle of approximately arranged to carry the bread with one corner downward and with the sides of the chute contacting two adjacent faces of the loaf of bread.

'7. A cutting machine as described in claim 1, said driving means comprising a belt carried by the motor pulley to actuate the drive pulley, an angular feed chute mounted in the frame to carry the bread to the cutting blades with its sides secured together au an angle of approximately 96 arranged to carry the bread with one corner downward and with the sides of the chute contacting two adjacent faces of the loaf of bread and sloping downwardly approximately to the cutting blades.

8. A cutting machine as described in claim said driving means comprising a belt carried by the motor pulley to actuate the drive pulley, an angular feed chute mounted in the frame to carry the bread to the cutting blades with its sides secured together at an angle of approximately 90 arranged to carry the bread with one corner downward and with the sides of the chute contacting two adjacent faces of the loaf of bread and sloping downwardly approximately to the cutting blades at a right angle to the cutting blades.

CHARLES PETSKEYES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 17,980 Peters Aug. 11, 1857 233,700 Rice A Oct. 26, 1880 264,114 Streicher et a1 Sept. 12, 1382 733,976 Lacour et al. July 21, 1903 1,818,245 Folk Aug. 11, 1931 1,968,020 Bettendorf July 31, 1934 1,986,102 Cole Jan. 1, 1935 2,219,519 Fabrin Oct. 29, 1940 2,220,729 Powers Nov. 5, 1940 2,316,876 Lothes Apr. 20, 1943 2,388,725 Criner Nov. 13, 1945 2,420,930 Bush May 20, 1947 2,459,200 Teague et al Jan. 18, 1949 

